The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance is recognizing November as Long-Term Care Awareness Month, and they’re encouraging Tennesseans to start planning before they need to.

We’d go a step further. This is one of the most important financial conversations most families never have, and it tends to get had in a hospital hallway at the worst possible moment instead of around a kitchen table while everyone is healthy.

Here’s what the numbers actually look like, what long-term care insurance does and doesn’t do, and how to think about whether it fits your situation.

The Short Version

• Roughly 70% of people turning 65 today will need some form of long-term care in their remaining years
• A semi-private nursing home room in 2024 ran a median of about $111,325 per year, and a private room about $127,750
• Medicare does not cover extended custodial care, which is what most people actually end up needing
• About 17% of Americans will spend more than $100,000 on long-term care services, and nearly 9% will spend more than $250,000
• The best time to look at this is well before you need it, because both price and eligibility depend on your age and health

The Numbers Most People Haven’t Seen

Americans are living longer, which is good news that comes with a bill attached. Longer lives mean a higher incidence of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and those conditions frequently require ongoing assistance.

According to federal figures cited by TDCI, someone turning 65 today has close to a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports before the end of their life.

That’s not a fringe scenario. That’s most people.

The scale is growing too. By 2030, one in five US residents will be 65 or older. The number of Americans needing long-term support services is estimated at around 14 million today and projected to reach 27 million by 2050.

What It Costs

This is the part that stops people short.

In 2024, the annual median cost of a semi-private room in a skilled nursing facility rose about 7%, from roughly $104,028 to $111,325. A private room climbed about 9%, from roughly $116,800 to $127,750.

Those are annual figures, and they’re medians, which means half of facilities cost more. They’re also rising at a pace well above general inflation.

Put against a typical retirement nest egg, a few years of care can consume a lifetime of savings. Roughly 17% of Americans will spend more than $100,000 on long-term care services, and almost 9% will spend more than $250,000.

The Medicare Misunderstanding

Here’s the single biggest gap in most people’s planning, and we want to be direct about it.

Medicare does not pay for extended long-term care.

Medicare may cover a limited stay in a skilled nursing facility following a qualifying hospitalization, and it covers certain medical services. What it does not cover is custodial care, which is help with daily living activities like bathing, dressing, eating, and mobility. That’s exactly the kind of care most people end up needing, and it’s the kind that runs for years rather than weeks.

Medicaid does cover long-term care, but generally only after you’ve spent down your assets to qualify. For many families, that means exhausting savings and jeopardizing what they hoped to leave behind before any help arrives.

The space between those two programs is where long-term care insurance lives.

What Long-Term Care Insurance Does

A long-term care policy is designed to cover the costs that fall outside Medicare and arrive before Medicaid.

TDCI lays out a balanced view of standalone long-term care coverage, and we think it’s worth repeating honestly rather than just selling.

The Advantages

• Your long-term care expenses may be covered up to your policy’s coverage cap
• Coverage often extends to care received at home, not just in a facility, which is what most people would prefer
• Riders are available for things like inflation protection and spousal coverage, which matter a great deal over a 20 or 30 year horizon

The Honest Drawbacks

• You may never need long-term care, and standalone policies traditionally paid nothing if you didn’t
• The types of care covered can be limited, so the specific policy language matters enormously
• Premiums can increase over time

That last point is real and we won’t pretend otherwise. It’s also one of the biggest reasons to work through this with an agent rather than buying off a website, because the structure of the policy, the carrier’s rate history, and the available alternatives all affect how exposed you are to future increases.

Why This Market Is Changing

Long-term care insurance claims have risen more than 80% since 2015, reaching roughly $17 billion in 2024. The need is showing up in the numbers, not just in projections.

The product has also evolved. Traditional standalone policies are no longer the only option. Hybrid products that combine long-term care benefits with life insurance have become a significant part of the market, and they address the “what if I never need it” objection directly, though they come with their own tradeoffs.

Which structure makes sense depends on your age, your health, your assets, and what you’re trying to protect. That’s a conversation, not a web form.

When Should You Look At This?

Earlier than most people do.

Long-term care coverage is priced on age and health at the time you apply. Waiting makes it more expensive, and at a certain point a health event can make you uninsurable for this product entirely. People who wait until they can clearly see the need are frequently the people who can no longer qualify.

Most planning conversations make sense somewhere in your 50s to mid 60s, though the right timing varies. If you’re in your 40s and already thinking about it, you’re ahead of the curve.

The Holiday Conversation

TDCI’s commissioner made a point we think is exactly right. The holidays, when families are actually in the same room, are a natural time to have this conversation with the people you love.

It’s an awkward subject. Nobody wants to open Thanksgiving with a discussion about nursing home costs. But the alternative is having it under pressure, after a stroke or a fall, when decisions get made fast and expensively.

A few questions worth raising with aging parents, or with your spouse about your own future:

• If you needed help with daily living, where would you want to receive that care?
• Who in the family would be expected to provide or coordinate it?
• Is there existing coverage, and does anyone know where the paperwork is?
• What’s the plan if care is needed for several years rather than several months?

You don’t have to solve it over dessert. Just open it.

We Can Help You Sort Through It

Here’s the part we’d most like you to take away.

We represent the major companies that are active in the long-term care insurance market. As an independent agency, we’re not pushing one carrier’s product because it’s the only one we have. We can compare structures, compare carriers, and tell you honestly whether this fits your situation or whether your money is better deployed somewhere else.

If you have a need for long-term care coverage, or you simply want to understand what your options look like, please let us know. We’re ready to help you with it.

Call or text us at 615.377.1212, email info@BentonWhite.com, or book a time to talk. There’s no pressure and no obligation. If the right answer is that you don’t need this, we’ll tell you that too.

TDCI also recommends verifying that anyone selling you insurance in Tennessee is properly licensed, and they maintain a database of licensed agents and brokers at tn.gov/insurance. We’d encourage that for any agent you talk to, including us.

This article is general information intended to help Tennessee families understand long-term care planning. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice. Coverage, benefits, exclusions, premiums, and eligibility vary by policy and carrier, and your policy documents govern your actual coverage. Figures cited come from the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and federal sources as reported in November 2026.

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